


Faster than your bullet

by nanialbee9



Category: Warrior Nun (TV)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Found Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:47:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26804611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nanialbee9/pseuds/nanialbee9
Summary: While escaping from the events at the Vatican, the gang encounters some resistance and someone takes a bullet for someone else.
Relationships: Shotgun Mary & Ava Silva, Sister Beatrice/Ava Silva, Sister Camila & Ava Silva, Sister Lilith & Ava Silva
Comments: 4
Kudos: 215





	Faster than your bullet

**Author's Note:**

> So, I [saw this post on Tumblr](https://nieladasdenani.tumblr.com/post/631005695141183488/whatever-you-do-dont-imagine-ava-shielding-and)  
> and I was kind of depressed and somehow started writing about it and it kind of got out of hand. So I decided to post it in here, too. Because, why not, right?

The mercenaries that intercept them after the Vatican, just when they thought they’ve escaped and with enough time to at least recharge, don’t look like they are part of the Swiss Guard. But the nuns she’s traveling with don’t look like they’re nuns, either. Ava has learned that the Church is even more fucked up than anyone could have guessed.

They’re really not outnumbered, there are just three men. But they are three bulky giants with bulky guns, and Ava’s group is composed of five injured, exhausted, beaten girls. Sure one is a badass gunslinger, two are highly skilled ninja-nuns and one is a half-demon, half highly-skilled-ninja-nun. And then there’s Ava all bruised and bleeding. With a gigantic sword, she can barely lift with how drained she is and her source of superpowers completely depleted. Her fellow warrior sisters are not faring much better. Mary is hanging to consciousness by a thread. Lilith is just looking lost. Beatrice and Camila look like they can barely say they are a step ahead of the rest, energy-wise.

So the presence of these armed men is most distressing. Of curse, they fight and actually manage to make it look like they may be able to get out of this one, too. Until one of the men decides to aim his gun at an unsuspecting Beatrice. Ava, who’s been rather useless so far, can only see how time slows to an almost stop and there’s nothing she can do to prevent her body from sprinting to position itself between Beatrice and the bullets. Then, it all speeds up again.

She feels her body move with the force of the impact before she feels the pain. She had time to confirm Beatrice has not been hit before her hand comes up to her abdomen and comes off sticky red, her eyes inspecting the situation before returning to Beatrice, face grimacing and then promptly trying to hide it at witnessing the devastating confusion there.

There’s a furious roar behind her, but then Ava’s on her knees. Beatrice arms catching her. Desperate hands holding her up. The commotion around them keeps going for a minute, maybe, and then all is silence. The broken _no_ that comes out of Beatrice's mouth barely registering, making Ava question if she maybe lost her hearing in the explosion, or if her blood is trying to rush up to her head in a desperate attempt to not bleed out, and the traffic of it in her ears is too loud to filter in the exterior stimuli.

But something must be up because Beatrice’s mouth is moving and Ava can’t hear what she’s saying. Then there’s a forceful pressure over the hand Ava has on her wound, her bullet wound. And another, warm and calloused, catching her face, tilting her head and keeping it at an angle that prevents her from looking anywhere but Beatrice gorgeous features.

Then she can feel the others there. Mary, the most injured of them, narrowly avoids collapsing on Ava. She’s volunteering as a pillow for Ava’s head and shoulders, to compensate. Camila is helping Beatrice in guiding Ava’s body into a lying position. Lilith just stands by, ready to do wherever necessary.

“Ava, I need you to breath.” _What?_ Beatrice is so worried. She seems calm, but there’s no mistaking her trepidation.

“M’fine” Ava slurs in an attempt to erase the frown on all the faces. But they all just rudely ignore her.

“Breath, Aves” Mary, the nerve, who is also slurring. _You breathe_ , she can’t say because apparently she is, indeed, not breathing properly. Shock, most likely. Panic, probably.

Camila is 100% focused on stopping the bleeding. Beatrice is 80% focusing on helping prevent Ava’s death and 20% checking on her, her eyes, her breathing. Lilith is sharply focused on Ava and the two tending to her. So it’s Mary who has to hold Ava through it.

“Come on, kid. Deep breath in... nice. Hold it... and let it all out. There you go. Let’s try again, you can do better. It’s ok, you’re gonna be alright.”

Ava is focused on Mary, except for when Beatrice comes up to check on her. Then, Ava’s attention shifts. It doesn’t last much and when it’s gone there are a few seconds before Mary reclaims her focus, in which Ava can make a few sentences:

_Went through her._

_Losing too much blood._

_Halo’s depleted_.

And then, a murmur, “the Halo is depleted”. Lilith. Like a switch went on. Takes the necessary steps to kneel right next to Ava, she reaches out to rest her ~~hand~~ claw, so tenderly, over Ava’s heaving chest and looks at her apologetically:

“I’m sorry, this will hurt” and pushes, reaching _inside_ Ava’s chest. A piercing scream rips from Ava’ throat and then, chaos: “what the fuck, Lilith!”, “what are you doing?”, “stop, you’re hurting her!” Before the blinding pain and light consume Ava’s consciousness and all goes black, silent, painless.

...

There’s a moment that seems longer than it actually is after, that it’s suspended in stunned silence. All eyes are on Ava’s unconscious form. On her now slowly moving chest, and the hand the rests there (after having been a claw inside the girl).

Beatrice looks up at Lilith, who seems to be reassuring herself that Ava is indeed alive. But it’s Camila who manages to break the silence first.

“The bleeding has stopped.” She looks up at Lilith with something like awe painting her features. Her gaze travels over the others briefly, before returning to assess Ava’s condition. “It’s like the Halo gave her a surge of power, enough to prevent her from dying, and went off, again. She’ll need time to recover unless the Halo recharges...” She trails off, her gaze now on Beatrice, who’s attention has not strayed from Lilith. “She’s going to be alright!”

“How?”, comes Mary’s whispered mumble.

Lilith finally turns her eyes away from Ava to look at her. “She mentioned feeling the Halo’s power like never before when Adriel tried to pull it off her in the tomb. Like it was reacting to the intrusion. She feared maybe the Halo was recognizing its true master and rejecting her. But, I think it was protecting her. I thought it may work again, react to an intrusion enough to heal the worst of her injuries with the surge of power.” She looks up. “I had to try, we were running out of time”.

Lilith’s nervous. Her gaze lingers on Beatrice as if she was pleading for understanding. Beatrice’s hand comes up to Lilith's arm, still resting on Ava:

“You did good, sister. You saved her life.” Her smile is small but genuine. It eases Lilith's heart.

They gather themselves. Mary is out the second she’s laid beside Ava on the back of the van. Beatrice stays there with both of them. Camila takes the wheel and Lilith sits next to her. Beatrice can hear them talking softly. Recognizes Camila’s reassurances. They know Lilith has been struggling with her _trip_ to the underworld, has had no time at all to deal with it, really. She finishes cushioning Mary’s head, making sure she’s comfortable before she finds her fingers checking Ava’s pulse at her neck. _She’s alive_.

...

When Ava comes to again she knows she’s still alive, because all she feels is pain, and weakness, and the driest her throat has ever been -and she’s come from the death!- It takes a lot out of her to open her eyes, she must have made a sound of discomfort, because when they do finally open, and she can focus them there’s Beatrice’s face hovering over hers, lines of concern adorning her features. _Hey_ , she wants to say but finds a coughing fit coming out instead.

The hand that comes to help held her in the back of the head, supporting her neck, is so caring, Ava’s sure she’s never been this cared for since her mom was alive. Then there’s a cup at her lips. The water is not cold, but it’s the best she’s ever had.

“Careful. Take it slow.” Beatrice lets her have a couple of sips and then takes the cup away, to rest on the bedside table. Then that same hand comes back to caress her face, while the one at the back of Ava’s head guides her back down to the pillow. _Wait, pillow?_

“Hey.” It’s hoarse, and a little broken. But Ava can feel a tiny smile tugging at her lips.

“Hello.” Beatrice's smile is also tiny, but so, so loving. “How are you feeling?”

So, call her brat, but her voice adopts a whiny tone, and she groans before answering: “Everything hurts!” It’s the truth, though. _Oh, wait! The pillow._ “Where are we?”

“A tiny village just at the French border. Apparently, Mary knows someone and it’s safe. Don’t worry.”

“Of course Mary knows someone”

There’s just a couple of seconds of silence that feels charged. _Speaking of charged... Nope! Still depleted_. And then Beatrice speaks:

“Ava, why? That was so reckless, you were drained. The _Halo_ was drained. You could have died!” It’s not said in a yell, or even in anger. It’s quiet. Scared, even.

“I’d do it again.”

Now, Beatrice’s eyes flash with a dash of exasperation. “You better not!”

“Bea, hey, look at me. Please.” When she does, Ava smiles what she hopes is the most reassuring, soft smile she can give. “Of all of us, I’m the one with a better chance to survive most injuries... Though, I mean. Maybe Lilith can, now, too? But I have a better chance at surviving than you, thanks to the Halo.”

“That’s the thing, Ava. You are the Halo Bearer...”

“Beatrice, come on!” The chuckle she lets out it’s not appreciated, though. “Hey now, listen. We all know I am not _the_ chosen one. It was just a coincidence that I was murdered that night. I was just there and you guys needed to hide the Halo. I’m the least qualified to bear this power.”

“That’s not true! No, listen now!” And how’s Ava supposed to refute her? “If you weren’t _the chosen one_ , as you put it, the Halo would have rejected you. Truthfully, you lack in training, but you have a kind of instinct we don’t. We have faith in something...we don’t question that faith. Ever. I think... I feel that if it had been Lilith, or Camila, or _me_ , we would have not doubted Adriel for a second. We would have given him the Halo. Ava, you have this way about you. You don’t have blind faith, but you have a sort of innocent belief in things that help you be a special kind of Halo Bearer. You break the mold. Please, _please_ , don’t think you’re replaceable. I _can’t lose you_!”

“Hey, hey ok. I’m sorry. You’re right. I’m not trying to sound like a martyr. But I will do anything to protect you. Always. The others, too. Isn’t that my role? As a leader?”

There is a scoff. And Ava has to do a double-take because _rude_. But it’s not Beatrice scoffing at her.

“You think you’re a leader? Kid, you’re the baby. Like the little thing on that cartoon about a family of superheroes!” Mary is smirking, _standing_ , at the door.

“Jack-Jack? Dude, he’s awesome!” 

“Yeah, he’s also a menace and a disaster!”

“Ava is so good to see you awake!” Camila can’t resist anymore and rushes to _delicately_ hug Ava. It’s awkward, the position not helping, but so welcome.

“We’re supposed to protect the Halo Bearer.” Lilith's voice enters before her. She states this matter-of-factly. 

“Well, in my reign we are all equal and we protect each other. And considering, again, that I have a better chance at _holy recovery_ , then maybe I am allowed to be a bit more reckless.”

“Hey, I have an idea! How about no one sacrifices themselves around here anymore, huh? What if, hear me out, I know it’s crazy, but _what if_ no one puts themselves in front of flying bullets, or demon claws ever again?” Yeah, ok so Mary is definitely the leader, right? Beatrice is the smart one, the calm, the voice of reason. Lilith’s the heavyweight. Camila is the sweet one that can actually destroy you. And Ava, well, maybe she is the disaster, the wild card!

“Anyway,” Beatrice clears her throat, “perhaps we could establish that more clearly at a later date. How about we eat something now? You must be hungry.”

An actual moan escapes Ava at the mere thought of food “Aww yes, please! I’m starving!”. And there’s that. Camila is delighted and clapping explaining all the delicious food they are going to have. Lilith is calling Ava a drama queen, in a whisper, like a coward. Mary is saying she’d have to have food first before Ava eats it all... again, _rude_!

Beatrice stays with her. _Always_. “I understand that you will probably not change your mind, Ava. Because I won’t change mine about protecting you either. But know that I’d be protesting the whole time.” And there’s a teasing smile on her face.

Ava grins: “Well, what else is new?”

There’s a war looming in their future. They have to face at some point the fact that Vincent is a traitor, All their purpose is a farse. There’s also the little detail that they _destroyed the Vatican_. But, for now, they can have this. They have each other. And Ava is pretty sure they are going to be ok. They’ve got this!


End file.
